Analysis of the American presidential campaign from the perspective of email marketing

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We thought we had seen it all in the 2012 US presidential election, but we realized that it was nothing compared to this latest election. The last few years have seen an abundance of new communication channels and an unprecedented level of social connectedness. Throughout the 2016 election process, we saw candidates use social media and big data to reach more voters and with greater precision. However, if there is one thing that this election has in common with the 2012 election, it is the fact that, despite all this surge in new technologies, email marketing still reigns supreme.

Analysis of the American presidential campaign from the perspective of email marketing



Email marketing has proven to be essential, even primordial, in the strategy of this campaign, as it had already been in 2012. Why this choice? Because it has proven to be fast, cost-effective and non-invasive. Since people germany telegram phone number list must now opt in to receive emails from their candidate, using this channel reaches a more targeted audience eager to interact rather than other strategies aimed at the general public.

After a month-long analysis of the email campaigns of the two main candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, it is clear that each of these candidates succeeded in their goal of delivering a very specific message but each according to their personalized use. This analysis identified several elements that are of great interest to marketers such as the general frequency of emails, the average length of the body and subject line, the calls to action and the use of visuals to determine the style of email marketing campaign of each candidate and many other elements.



Frequency of emails
In terms of overall email frequency, Clinton averages 0.8 emails per day and six per week. That's nearly double Trump's rate, which averages 0.43 per day and 3.25 per week.

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Length of emails
When it comes to email length, it gets very interesting. Trump’s emails were generally longer than five paragraphs. However, it’s interesting to note that while Hillary’s emails averaged around three paragraphs, 86% included a very clear call to action, whether it was to donate, attend a rally, or simply register to vote, while the majority of Trump’s emails included a clear call to action.

Presence of images
Typically, images are very important in email marketing campaigns because they create a pleasing aesthetic and promote brand recognition. When it comes to visuals, Clinton included a visual in only 13% of her emails while Trump did not include a single image throughout this analysis.

Mailing list size
Hillary Clinton started her campaign with a huge lead with a larger subscriber base while her opponent caught up to suddenly find herself in the lead with a 9% larger list. Donald Trump's mailing list likely came from purchased or rented bases, as data shows his list jumped literally overnight.

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Complaint rate and deliverability
Trump's email marketing campaign has been littered with spam issues throughout the Republican primaries, with nearly 60% of his emails being listed as spam on June 21. Trump's campaign sends emails from four different domains with varying spam rates, but his deliverability rates lag behind his Democratic rival.

Although Clinton’s email list is smaller than Trump’s, more of Clinton’s emails land in the inbox. Clinton runs her email program through a single certified sending domain with a 96% deliverability rate. Her email marketing strategy team also vigorously A/B tested every subject line, helping her complaint rate stay around 0% while Trump’s reached as high as 20% in the final weeks of the election.

Engagement rate
Another important element is engagement rates. This is where the difference was made. Trump had a more receptive audience. He consistently beat Clinton in email open rates throughout the election until the fall when the tables were turned. By the end of October, Clinton’s average open rate was 18%, while Trump’s was 12%.

The tone used
Persado analyzed more than 6,000 subject lines sent by both candidates' campaigns from January 1 to August 31 using the company's neural network classifier to categorize the emotional language used in each subject line.

Both campaigns used similar terminology in their subject lines, emphasizing the candidates' names, the campaign and attempts to mobilize supporters for an upcoming event. One major difference is that Clinton's third most frequently used word is "we," while Trump's is "me."

Trump's most frequently used phrases in subject lines were "approval rating" and "crooked Hillary," while Clinton's most frequently used phrases were "stop Trump" and "thank you."

The most common emotion Clinton campaign used in its emails was anticipation, followed by joy, fear, confidence, and pride. Perhaps the campaign should have prioritized the latter emotions, since confidence and then pride were the most effective and highest engagement topics.

The most common emotion that came out of Trump’s campaign in its subject lines was joy, followed by anticipation, fear, confidence, and pride. Pride had the highest engagement rates, followed by fear